What grows up, must come down and in 2013 no one did it better than a Lincoln County nature center.

Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson received the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry's outstanding tree farm award January 8 during a ceremony in Augusta.

“This is a big honor for HVNC,” said Andy McAvoy, Hidden Valley Nature Center director. “It is a great affirmation from the forestry community that we are doing good work, and work that is important to Maine's forests and forest communities.”

But, don't expect Hidden Valley to rest on its laurels, McAvoy said.

“We will use this award as motivation to continue our forest management and forestry education practices, and to look for ways to have a broader reach,” he said. “Hopefully, being tapped more solidly into the Tree Farm community, we'll be able to reach new, and possibly more diverse audiences.”

In addition to reaching out, Hidden Valley will also be putting in some serious work in 2014: the Nature Center will harvest approximately 15 acres to help with new growth and host several workshops related to forestry including a class on timber frame construction and chainsaw safety.

Already, Hidden Valley's 2014 schedule is filling up and quickly, McAvoy said.

“In addition to continuing with work we're already doing we're planning to offer more than a dozen forest-related classes and seminars,” he said. “In early September we will host the annual Tree Farm Field Days complete with workshops and active demonstrations.”

“We never want for creative, fun things to do. We're thrilled that the rest of the community seems to agree.”

For more information, visit the nature center’s website.